Via AviationNews.EU
AgustaWestland that it has been awarded a contract for nine T129 combat helicopters. The contract is valued at €150 million also including a spare parts package. The nine T129 helicopters will be assembled by Turkish Aerospace Industries, Inc. (TAI) and delivered by mid 2012 in a basic configuration, one year earlier of the 51 T129s already on order. This contract increases the total ordered by the Turkish Land Forces Command to 60. TAI is the Prime Contractor for the overall ATAK Programme, with ASELSAN as the supplier of avionics and mission equipments while AgustaWestland is acting as subcontractor to TAI. As the Prime Contractor of the ATAK Program, TAI is responsible for ensuring the T129 ATAK helicopter meets all the operational requirements of the Turkish Land Forces Command.Ironic that while the rest of Europe disarms, Turkey is going full speed ahead. They have an original order for 100 F-35's and increased it by another 20. They have a huge ship building program going on (definitely under the radar but real) and the armed forces in general are sharpening their teeth on insurgents in Northern Iraq.
Turkey might be the real future military power on the European continent...not the traditional powers.
Between Turkey's rise, former Soviet Block Countries like Romania innovating to get better....what is the UK's answer to the challenge????
Cut its Army....Trim its Navy....and depend on a 4th Generation F-15 sized fighter with no performance benefits that the latest model (F-15SG) bring to the table.
We do live in interesting times.
The Turkish economy was in shambles and just recovering, when the rest of the world got hit by the current dip, so Turkey emerged financially stronger and so has the money to spare to invest in defense.
ReplyDeleteUnlike Europe which really has no enemies anymore, Turkey has a Kurdish "problem" and is bordering Syria, Iraq and Iran, not to mention the various (volatile) republics that were formerly part of the Soviet Union.
So it makes a different if your enemies are found in a far away Central Asian country or are litterally right across the border.
i get your point Marcase but the fact remains that this nation on the far edge of Europe with a booming Muslim population, a politically weird government that is secular/religious and getting more religious all the time will have one of the most advanced militaries in Europe in a few years.
ReplyDeleteadditionally (and i hate to point this out) but they've made the calculation that citizen comfort will take a back seat to citizen safety.
Turkey is however playing catch-up in a big way for Europe though. This aircraft (T129) is an excellent example. When they get this into service, they'll have an aircraft relatively similar in overall capability to that which is already in service in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece and the Netherlands...
ReplyDeleteFighter wise is same. Sure with F-35 and F-16 they'll have a fairly large and modern fleet, but where is the sustained investment in force multiplier capability? Where is their sustained investment in training and force level exercising capability?
They've ordered B737 Wedegtails as their first AEW&C capability, when the Europe has had AWACS capability for 20 years or more. Where is their AAR capability? How is their networking capability coming along? What's their standoff strike capability and what's their operational experience like and so on.
As I'm sure you know, capability isn't just about airframe performance, numbers of platforms or even how much cash you splurge (as Saudia Arabia demonstrates time and time again) and Turkey, whilst it is catching up in many areas, has a LONG way to go before it equals ANY of the "big 4" (UK, France, Germany, Italy) European nations in all round capability, let alone Europe as a whole...
Aussie Digger - good points, however you overlook one tiny detail. Turkey doesn't need all those (expeditionary) capabilities as its arch-rival is just across a small channel - Greece.
ReplyDeleteAlthough relations have somewhat improved, Turkey's invasion of Northern Cyprus and its reluctance to acknowledge the independent southern (Greek) part, combined with its claims on several other Greek island in the Aegean, mean it's strategic "schwerpunkt" is focused regionally, not a continent away.
Solomon made a good point about citizens rights, and I could fill a number of blogs about this Turkish government using its citizens abroad for political influence. But suffice it to say that this Turkey is moving away from the West (EU and NATO) and more to its like-minded muslim neighbours.
Aussie and Marcase both make good points, both of which boil down to this. Turkey is only now catching up with Europe in some capability areas, but has neglected they key ones that separate the UK and France from the rest of Europe a bit and Turkey more, the ability to project power. It might be right for Turkey not to invest in those capabilities if it doesn't need them, but it can never be considered anything more than a regional player if they can't use force far away.
ReplyDeleteTurkey is fundamentally a regional power and will be one for the foreseeable future. However, considering the region it occupies - the bridge between Europe and the Middle East - it is still very important and will only gain in importance. The region Turkey occupies has always been a part of human civilization - it was the site of Homer's Troy, the battlegrounds between Greece and Persia, the home of the Byzantine (aka Eastern Roman) Empire and the Seljuks and Ottoman Turks. It seems that it will again play a major part in geopolitics.
ReplyDeleteIt can also be argued that the west is to blame for Turkey's gradual drift towards the East. While they have their issues, compared to every other nation in the Middle East (except Israel) they are relatively free and democratic, yet the greatest US attention goes to places like Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Even worse, the EU rejected them primarily on racial grounds (racism if far more prevalent in Europe than in America.)
Anonymous.
ReplyDeleteI was going to do a follow on post to this tommorrow but you're hitting on something tonight.
Turkey is the buffer that Europe needs but is ignoring.
In addition, with upcoming budget cuts I wonder exactly how expeditionary the UK and France truly are.
more later
Actually Anon, the primary reason for the EU rejecting Turkey is that they still occupy a third of the island that is part of EU nation Cyprus. That is a fairly legitimate sticking point.
ReplyDeleteSol, Don't get me wrong, the defence cuts occurring in the UK worry me immensely, especially our 10 year capability holiday in naval aviation, i'm just saying that it's not quite as bad as you are suggesting, the UK and France are still both well within the top 10 defence spending nations, with professional and battle hardened forces and are cooperating more to save money.